CINCINNATI — The moms of St. Martin are mobilizing.
Three months after the announced closure of St. Martin of Tours Catholic School in Cheviot, parishioners are gearing up for a fight against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
“I don’t want the church to shut down,” said Sam Folkert, who graduated from St. Martin and has two children there now. “There’s nothing we can do with the school. But that church? I will chain myself up to that church. I will protest that all day long.”
It’s one of many examples of a growing backlash against the Beacons of Light initiative, a church restructuring effort that assigned 208 Catholic parishes to 57 different parish families in 2022.
The Archdiocese is in the second of five phases for Beacons of Light, with all parishes expected to complete the process by 2027. But parish families aren't all moving at the same pace.
More than a dozen families have yet to give themselves a name. Others have already begun making painful choices about school closures, parish mergers and property sales.
A detailed look at four school closures and three parish restructuring decisions can be found at the end of this story. But here's a sample of parishioner pushback:
- At St. Joseph Catholic School in the West End, parishioners protested a school closure announcement last July. They also challenged an Archdiocese claim that the school needed $2.5 million in repairs to address safety issues.
- At St. Anthony of Padua School in Dayton, parishioners formed a Facebook group with 1,300 followers and launched a $100,000 fundraising campaign in October. They’re also challenging the $13 million cost of repairs the Archdiocese identified as justification for the closure.
- Proposed parish mergers in the northernmost counties of the Archdiocese led to the creation of two groups that help parishioners contest mergers using the Roman Catholic legal system.
“By canon law, which is the Vatican’s rules essentially, they’re only supposed to (merge and close) churches that have a very just reason to do it,” said Chris Niekamp, a Minster, Ohio Catholic who launched Save Our Steeples with his wife, Becky. “These well-maintained churches are not under duress. They don’t fall under the category of really needing this significant change.”
Archbishop Schnurr: Don’t get “mired in the details”
The WCPO 9 I-Team has been looking into Beacons of Light because the process has moved from theory to action. Since last spring, the Archdiocese has authorized four school closures, seven parish mergers and two “relegation decrees,” in which merged churches are designated for a possible sale.
Some of the decisions have come with astonishing speed. St Matthias Catholic Church in Forest Park was merged and relegated on the same day in decrees issued by the Chancery of the Archdiocese. The same thing happened at St. Margaret of Cortona in Madisonville.
Several parishioners told the I-Team their pastor promised St. Margaret would not be sold when it held its last mass in August 2022. But it was the first church merged and relegated after Beacons of Light formally launched on July 1, 2022. A for sale sign was posted last summer.
“One of the reasons why we started Save Our Steeples is we saw so many cases we saw so many places where the pastor or the priest was not informing his own parish what was coming,” said Chris Niekamp. “We literally had a priest who would talk to individuals and try to get them not to hold meetings. And then they actually used the homily to suggest to the congregation not to attend meetings.”
The Niekamps said the Archdiocese has been deliberately vague about the standards and procedures used to decide when churches and schools will close.
“We love our Catholic faith, but it’s still run by humans,” Becky Niekamp added. “And humans err.”
The Archdiocese declined to participate in an interview but answered questions via email.
“Any decrees relative to a modification of a parish that will come out of the Chancery in the future will include just cause determined by the parish themselves,” Spokeswoman Jennifer Schack wrote. “Pastors and parishioners, working together and after extensive consultation, may propose modification of parishes by merger or amalgamation.”
Schack said the Archdiocese is making full disclosures about Beacons of Light with listening sessions, training sessions and a Beacons of Light website that has been viewed 1.2 million times by nearly 900,000 visitors since it was created. Newsletters like the Beacons Update have delivered more than 389,000 emails and Archbishop Dennis Schnurr has written more than a half dozen letters to local Catholics about the topic.
In his most recent letter on Jan. 24, Schnurr said his goal is to make merged parishes “strong, joyful communities of evangelization and service centered on the Eucharist, together with growing in faith and radiating the love of Christ into the world. We need to keep this vision in mind to avoid simply getting mired in the details.”
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Do Catholics ‘have the right’ to challenge pastoral changes?
But the details are all that matter right now to Folkert and several other moms at St. Martin. They’ve printed maroon and white t-shirts with the slogan, “ST MARTINS VS EVERYBODY,” as they question every public disclosure made by their new pastor about why their school is closing.
“Over the last five years, St. Martin of Tours School has incurred a cumulative deficit of $1.9 million,” Fr. Matthew Robben wrote to parishioners in October 2023.
That shocked the moms of St. Martin, who quickly found a financial disclosure in a 2022 church bulletin that said the school’s revenue exceeded expenses by nearly $45,000 that year. They also questioned why they weren’t given a chance to save the school by raising money.
“There’s no welcoming right now. It’s my way. No way. You come. You don’t. Our numbers are dropped. You’re closed. That’s kind of just how you got to look at it. At least, that’s how we look at it,” said Kelli Mathis, a lifelong St. Martin parishioner whose first-grade son attends the school.
“I would love some transparency,” Folkert said. “As a parent, as a parishioner, like I would have loved a little bit more of, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on. We need this. Or this is what’s going to happen.’ Like a game plan. Give us a game plan.”
School closures have been more controversial than parish mergers in the southern part of the Archdiocese, with parishioners not only questioning their pastors’ facts but their motivations too.
“The parish council was not in agreement with the closure of the school,” said Vera Tangeman, grandmother of a student at St. Anthony in Dayton. “They wanted to fix the building.”
Tangeman is a frequent contributor to the Save St. Anthony Facebook group and helped to draft two letters to the Archdiocese. The first seeks an investigation of “the procedures and protocols” used by Pastor Satish Joseph. The second is signed by several members of the parish council who said they "did not have all the facts in hand" when they were asked to vote on the closure.
“We could be viable,” Tangeman said. “We had people that wanted to go there this year and they shut down the enrollment.”
The I-Team spoke to 17 Archdiocese parishioners about Beacons of Light restructuring decisions in the last month. Time and again, they said they were not aware of the massive changes taking place in their parish families until after decisions were made. Many weren’t sure what factors led to those decisions. None of the Southwest Ohio parishioners knew it was even possible to appeal a Beacons of Light decision.
Under canon law, “we have the right and often the duty to, I don’t want to say argue with the pastor, but to put your case forward that you don’t think what’s happening to you is fair,” said Mark Pettus, who belongs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus parish in McCartyville. “It’s all legal, there’s no reason to feel like you’re doing something against them.”
Pettus is the founder of Save Our Parishes, an advocacy group that posts information you won’t find on the Beacons of Light website, including how to appeal church restructuring decisions. He also serves as procurator for the archdiocese, which means he represents parishioners who’ve signed mandates to enable him to speak on their behalf.
Pettus established a relationship with a canon lawyer from Hopedale, Ohio. Philip Gray notched a win this month when the Dicastery of the Clergy at the Vatican agreed to hear his appeal of a Beacons of Light consolidation near Sydney, Ohio, which is about 90 minutes north of Cincinnati.
“The supreme law of the church is the salvation of souls,” Pettus said. “I don’t see how closing any parish helps save souls.”
Because he lives north of Dayton, most of the parishes Pettus is working with are in the northern reaches of the Archdiocese. But he’s willing to work with parishes in southwest Ohio. In fact, he’s been talking to the moms of St. Martin.
“Anybody in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati that would like help, they can contact me” at procuratordoc@gmail.com, Pettus said.
Here are summaries of the seven restructuring decisions made by the Archdiocese, starting with the most recent:
Date: December 19, 2023
Decision: St. Martin of Tours Catholic School in Cheviot to close at the end of the current school year.
Family name: Family of the Most Holy Eucharist
Location: 3720 St. Martin Place, Cheviot OH 45211
With 200 students and 22 teachers, according to state data, St. Martin is the third largest school among the five now operating in the Family of the Most Holy Eucharist on Cincinnati’s west side.
In 2021, the Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese said St. Martin had 1,224 registered parishioner households, ranking first in the family. The Cheviot church also had more baptisms and Catholic marriages than St. Antoninus in West Price Hill, St Aloysius in Bridgetown and two Westwood parishes - Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Catharine of Siena.
But St. Martin’s school and parish are losing money, according to an Oct. 26 letter to parishioners by Rev. Matthew Robben, leader of the parish family based at Our Lady of Lourdes.
“St. Martin of Tours Parish has historically subsidized deficits to the school budget funded by parish donations,” he wrote. “Since 2020, both the school and the parish have been operating at annual deficits.”
Parishioners gave the I-Team financial statements from the parish family that show St. Martin did not receive a church subsidy in at least one of the four years mentioned by Fr. Matt. In fact, it was the only school its parish family that had more revenue than expenses in the 2021-2022 school year.
Date: October 10, 2023
Decision: St. Anthony of Padua Catholic School to close at the end of the current school year
Family name: Northeast 7 Family of Parishes
Location: 840 Bowen Street, Dayton OH 45410
St. Anthony ranked last among the four schools now operating in its five-church family of parishes. State data shows it had 191 students and 11 teachers. It also ranked last in the Northeast 7 family with 270 registered parishioner households, according to the 2021 Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese.
In an October 10 press release, the Archdiocese cited nearly $13 million in deferred maintenance as a “serious concern” for the school and parish, including “the structural integrity of the underground boiler room,” where a ceiling supports a parking lot above.
Parishioners questioned that cost estimate in a Jan. 26 letter to Archbishop Dennis Schnurr. It asked for a second opinion and the public release of the facilities assessment that gave rise to the estimate. The Archdiocese has yet to respond.
Date: October 1, 2023
Decision: Four surrounding parishes merged into St. Henry Catholic Church in Mercer County
Family name: St. Henry Cluster of Parishes
Locations: St. Aloysius Parish, 6038 State Route 274, Carthagena OH 45822; St. Francis Parish, 1509 Cranberry Road, St. Henry OH 45883; St. Bernard, 71 West Main Street, St. Bernard OH 45310; St. Wendelin, 323 N Wood Street, St. Wendelin OH 45320
These four churches in Mercer and Darke counties have shared the same pastor with St. Henry Catholic Church since 2004, according to an amalgamation decree issued by the Chancery of the Archdiocese on Oct. 1, 2023. So, the document proposed “uniting the parishes” to reduce “administrative burdens on clergy and staff” while promoting “greater unity among the faithful.” The decree calls for St. Henry to be the parochial church of the St. Henry cluster of parishes, while the others “continue to function as subsidiary churches.”
In 2021, the Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese said St. Henry had 1,001 registered parishioner households, more twice that of the four other parishes combined. St. Henry also had 70% of the baptisms of the five parishes, 60% of the first communions and 62% of the Catholic weddings.
But merging the parishes proved a step too far for parishioners, who appealed first to Archbishop Dennis Schnurr and then to the Vatican. On Oct. 30, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr rejected the appeal, saying it “does not include any new elements for consideration and also misrepresents some of the facts.” But the Dicastery of the Clergy in Rome agreed to consider the appeal, putting the merger on hold for at least three months, according to Mark Pettus, who acts as a liaison between Canon Lawyer Philip Gray and the parishioners challenging the merger.
Date: June 29, 2023
Decision: St. Joseph Catholic Church closed.
Family name: South 12 Family of Parishes
Location: 745 Ezzard Charles Drive, Cincinnati OH 45203
St. Joseph was the smallest of three schools operating in its five-member family of parishes when the Archdiocese announced its closure last June. But it had the largest number of registered parishioner households with 569, according to the 2021 Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese.
In itsJune 29 press release, the Archdiocese cited $2.5 million in needed repairs, including a new roof and upgrades to mechanical systems. “The decision became necessary for the safety and well-being of the students and staff,” said Fr. Rodolpho Coaquira-Hilaje, pastor of the South 12 family of parishes to which St. Joseph belongs.
Parish Council President Lee Wilson sought a second opinion from Art Dahlberg, Cincinnati’s director of buildings and inspections. “There are no concerns related to the Cincinnati Building Code that would impact the continued use of the structure as it is presently permitted for educational uses,” Dahlberg wrote.
Date: June 16, 2023
Decision: St. Matthias the Apostle Catholic Church in Forest Park
Family name: Queen of Apostles Parish Family
Location: 1050 W Kemper Road, 45240, Forest Park
St. Matthias is one of four churches that were initially assigned to the Queen of the Apostles Parish Family in northern Hamilton County. In 2021, the Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese said St. Matthias led the other three parishes in mass attendance, baptisms, first communions, confirmations and Catholic marriages. But it trailed the others in the estimated number of Catholics living in the parish and the number of registered parishioner households.
On June 16, 2023, the Chancery of the Archdiocese issued a decree for the amalgamation of St Matthias into Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenhills.
The document describes an “extinctive union” in which St Matthias would transfer its assets, obligations and liabilities to Our Lady of the Rosary and the church itself would be “relegated to profane but not sordid use.” That means religious artifacts would be removed to enable the property’s sale. The Chancery approved the relegation decree on June 16, the same day as the merger.
Both decrees were to take effect Sept. 1. The amalgamation decreelisted seven factors as just cause for the merger, including a “financial situation” that “rapidly declined over the past year.” Another factor was number one on the list: “Priest allocation has made it impossible to have enough regularly scheduled weekend masses to support the parishes sacramentally and financially.” That might be a violation of Canon law, based on a summary of merger rules published of the Dalton & Tomich law firm in Detroit. “A parish can only be closed or merged with others, a process known as suppression, for certain reasons,” said the post. “The Vatican’s primary appellate court has made known through prior decisions that churches cannot be closed due to a priest shortage.”
Date: May 8, 2023
Decision: Merger of St. Anthony in Madisonville, merger and closure of St. Margaret of Cortona in Madisonville.
Family name: Eastside Family of Parishes
Location: St. Anthony Church, 6104 Desmond Street 45207; St. Margaret – St. John Parish, 4100 Watterson Street 45227
These two parishes were well on their way toward merger when the first parish-family groupings were announced by the Archdiocese in October 2021. But their fate was sealed by a pair of Chancery decreeson May 8, 2023 that merged both into St. Cecilia Parish in Oakley and relegated St. Margaret of Cortona Church to non-Catholic use, effective July 1.
The decree that allowed for St. Margaret’s sale said the church needed $750,000 in repairs for a new roof and installation of a first-floor restroom. And it added, “the church is no longer necessary for accommodating the number of Catholic worshippers in the area.”
The amalgamation decree cites four factors as just cause for the merger, including “the declining number of faithful attending mass and the downward trend of additional sacramental experiences” at both parishes “for many years.”
In 2021, theOfficial Catholic Directory of the Archdiocesesaid St. Anthony had only 54 registered parishioner households, compared to 179 at St. Margaret-St. John and more than 1,400 each at St. Cecilia and St. Mary in Hyde Park.
The decree did not mention a 2020 controversy at St. Anthony in which parishioners criticized the Archdiocese for removing African cultural heritage from masses at St. Anthony. “The community we have known for decades is gone,” they wrote in a newspaper advertisement. In a letter to parishioners, Rev. Jamie Weber blamed the criticism on “some unfortunate misunderstandings about the Archdiocese, our parish and the church in general … I would like to reassure you that St. Anthony’s parish is alive and well in Madisonville.”
Fr. Weber is now the leader of the parish family. The Watterson Street campus of St. Margaret is now for sale, while the 132-year-old St. Anthony church remains open as the Oratory of St. John Vianney at St. Anthony. An oratory is a place where mass and other religious services can be celebrated but it is not a parish church. The Eastside Family of parishes now lists only two churches on its website: St. Cecilia in Oakley and St. Mary in Hyde Park.
Date: March 17, 2023
Decision: Closure of St. Mary Catholic School in Hillsboro
Family name: Southeast 2 Family of Parishes
Location: 119 E Walnut St, Hillsboro, OH 45133
St. Mary is the largest of four parishes in the Beacons of Light grouping known as SE 2, which covers Adams and Highland County. Until next spring, it will be the only parish with a school. In 2021, the Official Catholic Directory of the Archdiocese said it had 280 registered parishioner households and 20 baptisms, more than twice that of the other three parishes combined.
In a March 17, 2023 news release, the Archdiocese blamed the closure on low enrollment, adding “the school has only 17 students but needs 34 students to be viable.” But Rev. Michael Paranuik, pastor of the parish family, said a preschool expansion was in the works.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story erroneously reported the launch date of Beacons of Light.